HTC Desire HD review

In our recent review of the HTC Desire, we remarked that the HTC Desire was very nearly the perfect phone. Is it possible to improve on perfection? Well, yes, because the new HTC Desire HD sets out to do just that.

The Desire HD took the design of the Desire and pushed it as far as current technology permits. First HTC stretched the screen size from an already generous 3.7 inches to a massive 4.3 inches. The screen resolution remained at 480 x 800 pixels, but that's still plenty sharp enough as far as we're concerned. Then they upgraded the camera from 5 to 8 megapixels, keeping the LED flash, autofocus and face detection features. The video recording has been uprated to 720p high-definition too.

Was that enough? Oh no, because then HTC doubled the data connection speed to 14.4 Mbps using HDPA and brought in Adobe® Flash® Player 10 to enhance the mobile web browsing experience still further. The internal memory has been increased to 1.5GB, with an option to add a microSD memory card up to 32GB. Audio quality has been turbo-boosted as well, with the addition of Dolby Mobile and SRS virtual surround sound. DLNA connectivity has also been added, so you can now connect your mobile to a DLNA-compatible TV or hi-fi for room-thumping music.

Of course, there's a price to be paid for all this additional technology. You pay a price with your wallet naturally, but by far the biggest price to pay is the increased size and weight of the Desire HD. It's significantly larger than the Desire, measuring 123 by 68mm, which is almost too big to fit in one hand, although it's very slim at just 11.8mm thickness. It also weighs a trouser-stretching 164g.

Curiously, there's one feature that HTC in their wisdom decided to downgrade, and it's the battery. Whereas the original Desire had a big 1400 mAh battery, the Desire HD has just a 1230 mAh capacity. What's going on there? We can't guess, but we know that we'd certainly like a larger battery, particularly with all the extra goodies to play with.

These considerations mean that it's not the perfect device, and it's not the best phone for everyone. Tech lovers will delight in the features that put the HD in its name, but for mainstream users, we'd recommend that you stick to the original Desire.